Who can be more credible than our God,
who is the Truth Himself and has the power to do anything He wants?!
What is a promise? A promise is a firm, reliable, and binding commitment from God. This type of promise gives us confidence and courage. It awakens faith and security. The word “promise” is primarily applied in Scripture to the promises of the divine act of grace. This is, above all, about the saving and preserving action of God. God would never allow these promises to fail, for we read: “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 103:17). He has committed Himself to the fulfillment of His promises, because He stands by His word and has the power to fulfill it. Psalm 33:4 says: “For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth.” His righteousness and faithfulness do not permit it to be otherwise.
He saw the deep distress and fallen condition of the people. Sin separated and alienated man from his Creator! Painfully, the Creator called out: “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) A deep mercy was awakened in God’s heart, and this mercy led to His saving and merciful promises.
The very first Old Testament promise was that a Savior and Redeemer would disarm and conquer His adversary, the devil (Genesis 3:15). From then on, this promise became ever larger and more luminous. Job, known to us from Scripture, confessed in the midst of his suffering: “For I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).
The teachers and prophets believed this and continually preached about this Redeemer by divine inspiration and enlightenment. The prophet Isaiah prophesied the sufferings of Jesus long before they actually happened. It is worth reading the profound, prophetic account of Isaiah 53 over and over again. They believed without seeing and knew that God’s promise would come true.
For the natural good of humanity, God gave a promise that has been fulfilled to this day. Over the centuries and even today, science believes that there once was a flood. The Bible confirms this incident from the time of Noah. Only eight God-fearing people survived this flood. Noah brought an offering of thanks to the Lord, and in Genesis 8:22 we find this promise: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”
Has God kept this promise? Yes, He stands by His word and constantly gives us the promised blessing of an annual harvest. We still experience the wonders of the four seasons and enjoy the benefits of day and the night. Without this promise, physical life would not be possible.
Without the promised and redeeming gift of the Son of God, there would be no salvation from sin and guilt, and no salvation from eternal death. In these two irrefutable facts, we recognize the high value and blessing of divine promises, which we value and constantly thank God for.
In the New Testament, there is sufficient justification for the fact that the promised Redeemer, Jesus Christ, came and fulfilled His work of reconciliation. In faith, Paul affirmed that all the promises of God’s salvation in Christ are “yes” and “amen”; that is, they became absolute reality. Jesus, the Son of God, willingly fulfilled this promise. The author of Hebrews writes: “Therefore, when He [Jesus] came into the world, He said: ‘…Behold I have come…to do Your will, O God’” (Hebrews 10:5-7). And in the fulfillment of the divine Word we will see the fulfillment of its promises. We hear the confirmation in the triumphal cry of Jesus on the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) Included is Genesis 3:15, where it says: “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
In Luke 4, we read about Jesus’ first appearance in Nazareth. He read his sermon text from Isaiah 61. Here, Isaiah declared a clear prophecy about how Jesus would bring salvation. Now Jesus stood before the people of His time and declared: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing!” (Luke 4:21) The New Testament constantly gives account of the fulfillment of the divine promises.
According to God’s plan and will, Christ had begun and completed His ministry in this world. Therefore, Paul could testify: “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (1 Corinthians 1:20). This tells us that they are fulfilled; they have become absolute reality. Our Lord now sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us. His work is completed, and John writes, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). What mercy, what comfort, what an immense blessing leads back to the fulfillment of the divine promises!
It must be stressed that God’s promises rest on certain conditions. Even the promise of our eternal salvation is included here. God’s Word requires faith, recognition of sin, acknowledgement of Christ as Lord, repentance, reconciliation with God, obedience, etc. Jesus said: “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28). Matthew 5:8 reads: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” People who believe this may count on the fulfillment of divine promises, as well as their eternal blessing.
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